


The Demon

by redtopaz



Category: Original Work
Genre: Demons, Depression, Gen, Mental Health Issues, Metaphors, Monsters, Other, Short One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-15
Updated: 2017-08-15
Packaged: 2018-12-15 12:56:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 788
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11806440
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/redtopaz/pseuds/redtopaz
Summary: All people are born with demons. Some slither across their faces and nestle in behind the eyes. Others wrap themselves around the gut and plague their bearer with a yearning hunger. Some still crawl into the ears and drown out all voices but their own.





	The Demon

All people are born with demons. Some slither across their faces and nestle in behind the eyes. Others wrap themselves around the gut and plague their bearer with a yearning hunger. Some still crawl into the ears and drown out all voices but their own. 

Edith had a demon that twined around her shoulders. It sat so heavy that some days she couldn't stand for the weight of it. Sometimes she would run and run to keep the demon from settling too firmly around her, forcing it lighter, but the demon grew weightier with each step and would always overwhelm her. 

One day, Edith's demon forced her to the ground with its bulk. It sat on her chest and pinned her down. No matter how much she pleaded or squirmed, the demon only pressed her down harder. 

Her friends shouted at the demon to rise up. Some even reached out to try and rip it from her body, but their fingers passed through it like smoke. It was their error, of course. No one but the bearer can ever touch a demon. 

Over time, some of Edith's friends left her. She tried not to blame them. They were bored, or distracted, or forced away by their own demons. Edith cherished the friends who stayed by her with all her heart, but she also pitied them. They couldn't be friends like they'd used to with Edith pinned to the floor. It hurt Edith to think she was holding them back. 

One quiet day, when even Edith's closest friends had slipped away for a bit, she turned and looked at her heavy demon. 

"Why are you always holding me down?" she asked it. The demon blinked it's slitted eyes at her. Its weight grew, pressing against her breath. 

"I like it here. Nothing out there really matters, so it's best to just stay here," it replied. 

Edith frowned at that. She wasn't sure that was true. 

"It used to matter, I think," Edith said. The demon coiled tighter, shifting its scaly body.

"Well, it doesn't now," the demon said. "You're all but useless now, lying here on the floor. So, I'm right you see." 

Edith pondered this. It seemed reasonable. Something might have mattered, once. She might have been useful, once, but she certainly wasn't anymore. 

"I think you might be right," she said.

"Of course, I'm right," it replied. 

Edith thought on this in silence. If nothing really mattered and she didn't matter, then what was the point of even laying here and thinking?

"What should I do?" she asked the demon. The demon coiled its head to loop around her neck.

"Why, you could go to sleep," it said. 

"But won't I just wake up again, and still be stuck here on the floor?" Edith said. The demon looped tighter around her neck.

"Not necessarily," it whispered. "You can just go to sleep and choose never to wake up."

Edith thought this sounded very appealing. She liked sleeping. She never remembered the demon and lying on the floor in her dreams. 

"Oh, but what about my friends?" she asked. It occurred to her that they might be upset to find her always asleep, after everything they'd done to stay by her. The demon shook its head.

"Your other friends left. These ones too will leave and forget once they see you won't wake up. You won't put them out that much."

Edith again was not sure how true this was, but she thought the demon made sense. Her friends would be upset, but then they'd realize how much more they could do without having to come sit by her on the floor every day. In time they'd be happier. 

"Alright," Edith said. "I'll do it."

"A wise choice," the demon said. It curled crushingly tight around her body. "It's so much easier this way. Sleeping is so peaceful. You won't have to worry about how useless you are just lying here. Everything will be better." It curled tighter and tighter, forcing Edith's breath from her body. 

At first, she thought to let the demon help her to sleep, but as it twisted and twined closer, Edith felt fear pierce through her heart. What if all she had were nightmares once she slept? Suddenly, the thought of sleeping frightened her. She regretted her choice and she started to thrash against the demon, wanting to fight it back, but growing too weak to do so. 

A veil fell over the world. Her vision dimmed and her mouth tasted dry and rough. As sound waned, she heard her friends returning from their trip away, calling out her name. Edith opened her mouth, but she had no breath to reply to them.  


End file.
